Quick end to the recap story arc; beginning of another one. And plenty– plenty!– of melonpan.

To recap this recap story arc, Yuji was stuck inside this dream created by the newest loli temptress, only now he’s stuck with Shana and Yoshida, who have been fighting over him like Louise and Siesta over Saito, only Shana and Yoshida are much, much more civil. The current dynamic of this series seems to be Shana and Yoshida more concerned with whom has the greater favor for Yuji while Yuji doesn’t care about that. Instead, Yuji cares about getting stronger and stopping Bel Masque. He knows that the girls are hot for him, but he doesn’t want to egg them on or disappoint them, so he’s trying to keep both happy (never a good idea, hence why he got sick) and not play favorites.

Meanwhile, surround the circus that is Yuji, Shana, and Yoshida, no one else seems to have a care in the world. Wilhelmina sure isn’t prepping any counter spells for Bel Masque; she seems to be more concerned about losing out as the motherly influence in Shana’s life to Chigusa. Neither is Margery. There’s three Flame Hazes in town, and only the “tada no Mystes” seems to be concerned with the upcoming battle.

Melonpanriffic

The melonpan… it’s growing! Run for it! Head towards the hills!

(I enjoyed Yuji’s o_o;; face when he saw the melonpan spring to life.)

I think Shakugan no Shana has the melonpan, the female loli yet ageless villain, and the crucified female heroine market cornered.

Anyone else thinking “Haruhi ending! Haruhi ending!” I would have ended it that way… not only would that wake Yoshida up, it’ll up the ante in her and Shana’s zero sum game for Yuji, and maybe it’ll even provoke Shana to toss out Louise’s “But if it’s just for a little bit, I’ll keep my eyes closed. If it’s only for an hour or so, I’ll keep my eyes shut and pretend that I don’t know anything!” line.

I think the battles are still the weakest part of this series. Shana doesn’t seem to do much, as she’s a melee and all the bad guys seem to be ranged, and the resolutions are just cop outs. She touches Reiji Maigo and gets toasted by its firewall? Ugh. I’m glad Yuji is being helpful, but it made the whole fight seem pointless.

That ponytail looks criminally good. Anyway, one thing that I completely forgot about this series is how Chigusa always seems to be checking out Shana. Another reason why I enjoy this series.

I feel so sorry for the prime ingredients. I’ll say a quick prayer for them. It’s very weird to have a meido who can’t cook… they need to spend a few episodes and go into Wilhelmina ‘s past, for instance, was she a meido previously or is the outfit something required of her from Tiamet?

Hilarious twist that Hecate is now a transfer student. It brings me back to one of my old theories that any anime can be adapted into a high school harem slice-of-life, and most anime can be improved by doing so. For example, can you imagine Gurren Lagann with Yomako-sensei as the teacher, Kamina, Simon, and Viral as the hoodlum students, Darry as the class rep, and Nia as the new transfer student? (I could probably write another script based on this setup as well.) But for Shana, Wilhelmina just needs to join as the meido/nurse, Margery could be the new teacher, and viola– instant high school harem slice-of-life.

28 Responses to “shakugan no shana second 2”

Hecate joining the school life? My hopes for the series weren’t even THAT great. Now I’m really excited.
On another note you’re right though, this series was never great due to its action scenes, Shana just tries to slash all her opponents, and it’s working for the most part I guess.

Uhhhh… Hecate? I think my brain has blown another fuse. Where is her strange ummmm Dad? (would this be a correct way of putting it? and how the hell would he let her go to school?) And I agree with Chumara and jason… the battles are pretty weak sauce (80% of the time) and Mistes is the only one who seems to have some electricity firing in the greymass between his ears. Strange role reversal now that i think about it.

When Shana became a Flame Haze, she got to choose her Jinki. It seems like Wilhelmina did not have a meido bonnet on in the flashback, but she should have already been a Flame Haze then. Does this mean you get to re-pick what form your Jinki takes? Perhaps it was all a ploy to tempt her skeletal crush.

>Judging by what happened in School Days, keeping both girls happy is always a bad idea…
Oh the horror this show will be if it goes for a Nice Boat ending.
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Those exploding melonpans freaked me out at first, but at the same time I was wondering if they were inflating grid-textured bras…

For example, can you imagine Gurren Lagann with Yomako-sensei as the teacher, Kamina, Simon, and Viral as the hoodlum students, Darry as the class rep, and Nia as the new transfer student? (I could probably write another script based on this setup as well.)

Uhhhh… Hecate? I think my brain has blown another fuse. Where is her strange ummmm Dad? (would this be a correct way of putting it? and how the hell would he let her go to school?)
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Maybe that’s not Hecate. Maybe it’s her “dad”, Sydonay. He is called “Thousand Changes” after all.
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Seriously though, Hecate joining the school life is a great development. Shana has always been about the people from the Crimson World becoming more and more a part of the human world, while the people from the human world become more and more a part of the Crimson World. Shana started out with a fancy title and no human name, and Yuji started out with a human name and no fancy title. But see where they’re at now: Shana’s more a rival to Kazumi and a daughter-in-law to Chigusa than she is a Flame Haze, and Yuji is more focused on Ball Masque than on the two girls who love him. This’ll go even further when Pheles shows up and Yuji learns what it really means to be the “Midnight Lost Child”. Hecate joining the school life is the next step in this process.
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Hecate was always a big ball of nothing, and maybe in learning to live like a human schoolgirl she can become something. She might even turn to the light side and be a powerful ally, not to mention what that would do for the harem. J.C.Staff can’t do action, but they can do love-love, and they do it better than anyone.

Man, watching this episode was weird for me. That burgeoning box of melonpan was HILARIOUS, and somehow I knew Jason was going to write about it. How could he not? It’s the holy grail.
I’m slightly peeved about Yuji’s sudden ability to sunder everything he comes into contact with, but we’ll see where this takes things, I for one am not impressed. Copout indeed.
And yes Jason, the proof is in the pudding. Behold the original: Evangelion episode 25 (or was it 26? Those last few episodes messed with my head.), the conversion of something completely not into a high school harem comedy. Ah, those were the days, when everything was simple.

Myssa Rei:
i have read vol 15 (newest volume of japanese release), it’s not getting anywhere near the novel plot line, or nearer than ZnT, they might bring back Pheles to add to u2’s harem, and the big bad maoh ver might show up, but how they get there is about anyone’s guess

>>Run for it! Head towards the hills!
Hey! How did you know that was my trademark line in college? I was proud of it, everytime I had to run for my buddies enjoyment was… well, delightful. Ohh well, that’s in the past anyway…

I maid who can’t cook is a serious crime!! Seriously, that’s why Shana never grow up, just eating what Wilhelmenia managed to “cook” in the microwave.

It brings me back to one of my old theories that any anime can be adapted into a high school harem slice-of-life, and most anime can be improved by doing so. For example, can you imagine Gurren Lagann with Yomako-sensei as the teacher, Kamina, Simon, and Viral as the hoodlum students, Darry as the class rep, and Nia as the new transfer student? (I could probably write another script based on this setup as well.)

I never watched the original show, and don’t know who the fock all these other characters are or why they have any significance, and ya know what, I don’t even care. Shana is Pure Win!! And the only thing keeping this show from being Pure Win is that the battles could use a little more unnecessary mayhem and destruction.

@fat nakago
Hmmm well there is quite a lot of wanton violence in the first season, if ya ask me. I do agree with the fact that Shana is “pure win” although the fact that she will never get older (by real means anyway) kinda depresses me but what the hell. I recommend you watch the first season, it was enjoyableish. On a side note, the preview was throwing me off, it showed “Hecate” being frozen by the Fuzetsu. Maybe it isnt Hecate or Sydonay or however the hell you spell it. But i doubt, for plot reasons, that it isnt Hecate.

Series has been good so far – and your verdict on ANY series becoming a haram is completly correct, Gundam SEED, Code Geass, Elfen Lied and more than I can count.
On a side note – can anyone at all point me in the direction of an english version of the Novels?
I have speant around 5 days so far searching for them and apart from the odd scan on the Japanese ones I have nothing :(

They actually made a high school version of Gurren Lagann. Get this! The Spiral King’s the Principal! Scary, I know. And Viral is in a typical school uniform. I saw a picture of him once; he actually look hotter than Kamina did.